All Seasons House

With the extremes of climate found in many parts of the South, passive cooling is just as important to a homeowner as is passive solar heating. This house plan, suitable for weekend, vacation, or retirement use, offers an adaptable design from winter to summer. It can be cooled by passive means for much of the warm season.

Because it is basically a house within a house, the design lends itself to staged construction. The basic living area at the center may be built first, with perimeter spaces added as time and budget permit. The perimeter spaces are used primarily as extensions of their adjoining rooms in summer, creating a screened living area at virtually every exposure of the house. In winter, heating loads are reduced by closing off the perimeter spaces.

The basic plan is a 28- x 40-foot rectangle that contains the major interior spaces. An 8-foot perimeter area consists of porches and, on the southern exposure, prefabricated greenhouses, which act both as a home for plants and as solar collectors. The plan contains about 1,300 square feet of heated space, with almost 1,100 square feet of porches. The plan may be built with either full perimeter porches or a combination of porch and greenhouse areas. An alternate plan, included with the working drawings, provides for two small bedrooms on the main floor with a playroom between.

Designed by Mike Funderburk.